Box Office -- 'Despicable Me 2' Opens Big Against 'Lone Ranger'
Traditionally, Fourth Of July is a slow moviegoing day since Americans will be outdoors enjoying what should be good weather nationally. So don’t expect domestic box office numbers to tell the full story until Friday at the earliest. But there’s no question that the ‘A’ CinemaScore for Illumination Entertainment’s and Universal’s Despicable Me 2 (3,957 theaters) will help it gross well over $120 million domestic for the five-day July 4th holiday. On Wednesday the well-received and well-reviewed toon opened #1 with $34.3M which is “an incredible start” according to a Uni exec. “It’s quite an accomplishment.” You betcha.
(That’s higher than Monsters University‘s Friday take of $30.5M last month.) And it’s setting records - the 3rd highest opening day ever for an animated feature, the 8th highest Wednesday opening ever, and the biggest Wednesday opening of all-time for Universal. Here’s more proof that Minions will take over the world box office this weekend: it opens wide in 38 more territories after grossing an updated $65.9M internationally through Wednesday from only 11 markets. So that’s a global cume of $100.2M so far for the sequel which cost a very reasonable $76M. Pic grossed a huge $4.7 million Tuesday night in 2,563 theaters from late shows beginning at 7 PM past midnight.
(Monsters U grossed $3M.) This 2nd installment reteams directors Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud with screenwriting duo Ken Daurio and Cinco Paul. Old and new voiceover talent include Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Miranda Cosgrove, Russell Brand, and Benjamin Bratt. But of course the sequel’s big draws are those lovable Minions who in the original toon were given form and function by Coffin & Renaud to underscore the comedy surrounding Gru’s madcap mayhem.
Reportedly for the first pic, the pair looked at previous peons like Oompa Loompas from Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory and the Jawas from Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope. This time around, the scripters just wrote as many Minions scenes as they could squeeze into the sequel. And in 2014 the little yellow guys even get their own stand alone Minion movie with Sandra Bullock and Jon Hamm already attached. Meanwhile, the end credits feature the Minion wack-pack’s 3D demo.
Internationally, pic on Wednesday opened in Indonesia, Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam, and today in Argentina, Chile, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Israel, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Portugal, Singapore, Slovakia, Trinidad, Thailand and Venezuela.On Friday it releases in Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Columbia, Cyprus, Finland, India, Mexico, Norway, Panama, Romania, South Africa, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay and Spain.
Disney’s expensive The Lone Ranger (3,904 theaters) received a ‘B+’ CinemaScore from audiences who obviously disagreed with the lousy reviews given the movie by professional critics. So word of mouth may help this Western overcome its disastrous opening that underperformed for only $9.6M Wednesday. Rival studios say that means the Jerry Bruckheimer-branded tentpole may not even pass $45M for its first 5 days barring a miracle.
This is way below even Disney’s lowball domestic projection of $65M which the studio today revised down to $43M-$43M. Exit polling showed the movie skewed 56% male and 66% age 25 and older while complaints pour in about its content. “A Disney film that may be seriously inappropriate for families is tough,” a rival studio mogul told me this morning. Now the two-quadrant actioner likely won’t cover its high $215M-$250M cost despite this holiday’s 4x multiple. One head-scratcher is where all that money went. Apparently to above the line costs like stars Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer and director Gore Verbinski and producer Bruckheimer and the 3 credited screenwriters Justin Haythe, Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio.
Depp’s worldwide popularity may, repeat may, help overseas where oaters usually don’t excel. Lone Ranger opens day and date in 30% of the foreign landscape but only 4 big markets: Italy and Russia (releasing July 2) and Australia and Korea (July 4). Disney first announced the project five years ago (when Dick Cook was chairman of Walt Disney Studios) and it was always a risky bet since young moviegoers have largely stayed away from Westerns and have little familiarity with the masked man or his sidekick.
Disney was clearly hoping to replicate the success it had with Pirates Of The Caribbean by going back to the same trilogy filmmaking team of Bruckheimer, Verbinski, and Depp. As Deadline was first to report, the studio in August 2011 shut down Lone Ranger for six months after the budget ballooned out of control. Too bad Disney didn’t just scrap the pic altogether.
Especially after big budget Westerns Wild Wild West, Cowboys And Aliens, Jonah Hex all flopped while the Coen Brothers’ True Grit reboot cost only $43M and made major coin. After a year of bad buzz, Lone Ranger opened Tuesday night with an unimpressive $2M for late shows through midnights. Then Fandango saw even more handwriting on the wall Wednesday morning when Despicable Me 2 was scooping up 71% of ticket sales and Lone Ranger only 12%.
Kevin Hart’s concert pic Let Me Explain from Lionsgate’s Summit Entertainment received an ‘A’ CinemaScore from audiences and opened with a solid $4.7M from only 876 dates Wednesday. It’s yet another surprisingly strong debut (including $1.1M from Thursday late shows) from the standup comedian’s rabid and rapidly growing fanbase in the cheapest film of the Fourth Of July field. This is a follow-up to Hart’s 2011 hit Laugh At My Pain and was filmed live at NYC’s Madison Square Garden as part of the #1 urban comedy tour of all time generating over $32.7M in ticket sales.
The film is produced by Codeblack Films, a Lionsgate company, and HartBeat Productions. It cost $2.5 million underwritten by Hart, and Summit paid no advance and only reasonably for marketing. Pic’s $5,422 per screen average Wednesday was the 2nd highest average among all films.
Full analysis coming Friday. Here’s the Top Five based on Wednesday estimates:
1. Despicable Me 2 (Universal) NEW [Runs 3,957]
Wednesday $34.3M
2. The Lone Ranger (Disney) NEW [Runs 3,904]
Wednesday $9.6M
3. Monsters University (Pixar/Disney) Week 2 [Runs 4,004]
Wednesday $5.4M
4. The Heat (Fox) Week 1 [Runs 3,181]
Wednesday $5.2M
5. Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain (Summit/Lionsgate) NEW [Runs 876]
Wednesday $4.7M
Traditionally, Fourth Of July is a slow moviegoing day since Americans will be outdoors enjoying what should be good weather nationally. So don’t expect domestic box office numbers to tell the full story until Friday at the earliest. But there’s no question that the ‘A’ CinemaScore for Illumination Entertainment’s and Universal’s Despicable Me 2 (3,957 theaters) will help it gross well over $120 million domestic for the five-day July 4th holiday. On Wednesday the well-received and well-reviewed toon opened #1 with $34.3M which is “an incredible start” according to a Uni exec. “It’s quite an accomplishment.” You betcha.
(That’s higher than Monsters University‘s Friday take of $30.5M last month.) And it’s setting records - the 3rd highest opening day ever for an animated feature, the 8th highest Wednesday opening ever, and the biggest Wednesday opening of all-time for Universal. Here’s more proof that Minions will take over the world box office this weekend: it opens wide in 38 more territories after grossing an updated $65.9M internationally through Wednesday from only 11 markets. So that’s a global cume of $100.2M so far for the sequel which cost a very reasonable $76M. Pic grossed a huge $4.7 million Tuesday night in 2,563 theaters from late shows beginning at 7 PM past midnight.
(Monsters U grossed $3M.) This 2nd installment reteams directors Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud with screenwriting duo Ken Daurio and Cinco Paul. Old and new voiceover talent include Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Miranda Cosgrove, Russell Brand, and Benjamin Bratt. But of course the sequel’s big draws are those lovable Minions who in the original toon were given form and function by Coffin & Renaud to underscore the comedy surrounding Gru’s madcap mayhem.
Reportedly for the first pic, the pair looked at previous peons like Oompa Loompas from Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory and the Jawas from Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope. This time around, the scripters just wrote as many Minions scenes as they could squeeze into the sequel. And in 2014 the little yellow guys even get their own stand alone Minion movie with Sandra Bullock and Jon Hamm already attached. Meanwhile, the end credits feature the Minion wack-pack’s 3D demo.
Internationally, pic on Wednesday opened in Indonesia, Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam, and today in Argentina, Chile, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Israel, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Portugal, Singapore, Slovakia, Trinidad, Thailand and Venezuela.On Friday it releases in Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Columbia, Cyprus, Finland, India, Mexico, Norway, Panama, Romania, South Africa, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay and Spain.
Disney’s expensive The Lone Ranger (3,904 theaters) received a ‘B+’ CinemaScore from audiences who obviously disagreed with the lousy reviews given the movie by professional critics. So word of mouth may help this Western overcome its disastrous opening that underperformed for only $9.6M Wednesday. Rival studios say that means the Jerry Bruckheimer-branded tentpole may not even pass $45M for its first 5 days barring a miracle.
This is way below even Disney’s lowball domestic projection of $65M which the studio today revised down to $43M-$43M. Exit polling showed the movie skewed 56% male and 66% age 25 and older while complaints pour in about its content. “A Disney film that may be seriously inappropriate for families is tough,” a rival studio mogul told me this morning. Now the two-quadrant actioner likely won’t cover its high $215M-$250M cost despite this holiday’s 4x multiple. One head-scratcher is where all that money went. Apparently to above the line costs like stars Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer and director Gore Verbinski and producer Bruckheimer and the 3 credited screenwriters Justin Haythe, Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio.
Depp’s worldwide popularity may, repeat may, help overseas where oaters usually don’t excel. Lone Ranger opens day and date in 30% of the foreign landscape but only 4 big markets: Italy and Russia (releasing July 2) and Australia and Korea (July 4). Disney first announced the project five years ago (when Dick Cook was chairman of Walt Disney Studios) and it was always a risky bet since young moviegoers have largely stayed away from Westerns and have little familiarity with the masked man or his sidekick.
Disney was clearly hoping to replicate the success it had with Pirates Of The Caribbean by going back to the same trilogy filmmaking team of Bruckheimer, Verbinski, and Depp. As Deadline was first to report, the studio in August 2011 shut down Lone Ranger for six months after the budget ballooned out of control. Too bad Disney didn’t just scrap the pic altogether.
Especially after big budget Westerns Wild Wild West, Cowboys And Aliens, Jonah Hex all flopped while the Coen Brothers’ True Grit reboot cost only $43M and made major coin. After a year of bad buzz, Lone Ranger opened Tuesday night with an unimpressive $2M for late shows through midnights. Then Fandango saw even more handwriting on the wall Wednesday morning when Despicable Me 2 was scooping up 71% of ticket sales and Lone Ranger only 12%.
Kevin Hart’s concert pic Let Me Explain from Lionsgate’s Summit Entertainment received an ‘A’ CinemaScore from audiences and opened with a solid $4.7M from only 876 dates Wednesday. It’s yet another surprisingly strong debut (including $1.1M from Thursday late shows) from the standup comedian’s rabid and rapidly growing fanbase in the cheapest film of the Fourth Of July field. This is a follow-up to Hart’s 2011 hit Laugh At My Pain and was filmed live at NYC’s Madison Square Garden as part of the #1 urban comedy tour of all time generating over $32.7M in ticket sales.
The film is produced by Codeblack Films, a Lionsgate company, and HartBeat Productions. It cost $2.5 million underwritten by Hart, and Summit paid no advance and only reasonably for marketing. Pic’s $5,422 per screen average Wednesday was the 2nd highest average among all films.
Full analysis coming Friday. Here’s the Top Five based on Wednesday estimates:
1. Despicable Me 2 (Universal) NEW [Runs 3,957]
Wednesday $34.3M
2. The Lone Ranger (Disney) NEW [Runs 3,904]
Wednesday $9.6M
3. Monsters University (Pixar/Disney) Week 2 [Runs 4,004]
Wednesday $5.4M
4. The Heat (Fox) Week 1 [Runs 3,181]
Wednesday $5.2M
5. Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain (Summit/Lionsgate) NEW [Runs 876]
Wednesday $4.7M
